(And Sub-subtitle: Or, how #JonesboroStrong Can Help “Team Jonesboro” Get What it Thinks It “Wants”…And, Hopefully, End The “Pining of the Wealthy”)
“The complaints of the privileged are too often confused with the voice of the masses.” John Kenneth Galbraith (d. 2006) Economist
If’n ya have 00:02:39, this video by the state Arkansas Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) in 2020 sums up how “Arkansas” sees Jonesboro, its fifth largest city, the “Gem of the Delta,” and capital of “The Free State of Northeast Arkansas”:
If’n you ain’t got the time, Jonesboro’s not mentioned, period. Perhaps Jonesboro is included in other strategic video promotions by the state, but its exclusion here exemplifies the ever present “angst” of local elected- and civic-leaders from still not having a seat at the adult’s table…shunted off with the kids…in the third decade of the 21st century!
So, what to do about it?
If’n you have 00:52:00 minutes, here is a video that includes the big-money consultant for “Momentum Jonesboro 2.0, Jonesboro Unlimited Rollout of 5-Year Strategic Plan”.
If’n you only have 00:42:00 minutes, here is a shorter video of the plan, of Mark Young, President and CEO of “Jonesboro Unlimited” to the Jonesboro Rotary Club:
And, if’n you jus’ can’t get enough, here is a YouTube search for other videos on all things Jonesboro Unlimited – YouTube
So, excluded from the state’s strategic video, but forever-running as fast as it can to catch-up and jump into the bed of the pick-up truck with its peers, Jonesboro’s strategic organization produced all those minutes of quality and highly produced (that’s “expensive”) video. In essence, Jonesboro comes off as the “Rodney Dangerfield” of big cities in Arkansas:
It doesn’t have to be this way today, if it ever did. Geezers can remember the days of yore, of, “Dang, UofA still won’t play ASU; whooooooo, pig sooey! Go Hogs, Go!” #JonesboroStrong is always for the Arkansas “team”, even though the state team isn’t for #JonesboroStrong.
DISCLAIMER: The following rehash of previous posts and some, perhaps, not-100% accurate history of the “Gem of the Delta” is important to the recommended “fix”. However, if already steeped in the issues, you might want to cut to the chase. If so, please scroll down to “With this history…” if not interested in how Jonesboro got to this point. And, thanks for considering this series as part of how #JonesboroStrong can better meet the challenges ahead in “forever-C19+” America.
The first three articles in this series examined how Jonesboro (the city and its guvment) and #JonesboroStrong (the constituency, the electorate) is unique in Arkansas and, as such, not suited for any unnecessary and wasteful spending in the form of the currently proposed tax increases. Location (Part 1); income/wealth (Part 2); and, a persistent lack of trust in local guvments (Part 3), all coalesce into Jonesboro as the “big fish in the NEA regional sea” but not seen by Little Rock as “primary” – and, at this point in #Arkansas history, that’s a good thing. Fixes are acomin’.
More importantly, there is no reason for Jonesboro to seek being anything more than growing as “organically” as its leaders can achieve without reducing what many believe is Jonesboro’s and Craighead County’s greatest advantage for #JonesboroStrong – the lower cost of living in a lower tax environment, which is currently the amongst the lowest of the five most populated cities (Little Rock [1.5% less], Fayetteville [13.2% less], Fort Smith [6% higher], and Springdale [8.5% less] are larger than Jonesboro). (Source: http://www.bestplaces .net)
In fact, those very same selling points of “low costs” are used by “Jonesboro Unlimited” to attract industry here and is likely used by the chamber of commerce and even city officials when schmoozing “recruits” to set up shop here.
What applies to “Why Jonesboro” for the private sector industries and businesses that thrive here also applies to the individuals, families, all of #JonesboroStrong. Location, CW&L, and a low cost of living means as much to #JonesboroStrong families as it does amongst the criteria used by heavy-hitter executives when evaluating locations and site surveys for company growth, expansion, etc.
However, instead of standing proudly within the criteria of strengths that the originators of Jonesboro Unlimited used in the 1960s, the city guvment, its Team Jonesboro lobby, and public and private partners have worked to disconnect the very strengths that successfully attracted private industry from the people who live here.
How public and private partners? The local guvment and individual elected officials, currently sitting on a pirate’s treasure of taxpayer revenue in “excess reserves” (but always wants more) and the wealthier business owners, executives and managers of international, national, statewide, and local private sector success stories, all whom have the wherewithal to spend as they want on discretionary expenses.
NOTE: In Part 1 of this series, the reader was asked how, from day one of this mayor’s tenure, the “lie” of “Team Jonesboro” has been exposed. If’n you haven’t noticed, there are only “amenities” in the mayor’s increased spending. He and his executive team have not included even a half-a-penny for any “needs”, public safety of otherwise. This fact exposes those in elected office, some on staff, and in the Team Jonesboro lobby for what they are, “spenders”.
Alone amongst all the cities, towns, and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) that this city government and its Team Jonesboro lobby wish to mirror, #JonesboroStrong was forged into “The Gem of the Delta” before they arrived to apply this poor, misguided governance. This fortitude goes well beyond the occasional tornado or the ice-storms that welcomed each of the last two newly elected mayors.
First, there is the fortitude inherent in any group of people who, at some point in the not-too-distant past, self-identified their home as “the city of churches”. While that motto seems to have fallen “under the radar” for whatever reasons, long-standing core beliefs in the Bible can still be inferred from the newer city motto of “People, Pride, Progress”.
Second, there is the fortitude front-and-center, forged by liberty-minded citizens and some state legislators who, in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, earned the title of “The Free State of Northeast Arkansas” from Governor Asa Hutchinson. We were tagged with this somewhat disparaging monicker just for questioning the edicts the guvner had implemented under executive orders, without legislative input. #JonesboroStrong was prominent in the lawsuit against the guvner’s failure to include the legislature, the People’s branch of government. That lawsuit rose to the Arkansas Supreme Court but was not heard, as the issue became moot with the 2021 Arkansas State Legislative Session.
Individual Citizens & the Northeast Arkansas Tea Party enjoined with http://www.reopenarkansas.org & state legislators in the lawsuit.
Third, there is an existential “fortitude” derived from not ever being included as one of the “cool kids”. Despite being fifth in population, Jonesboro has wasted decades longing for the “hey, over here, pay attention to us, too” attention and respect it thinks that it deserves for…what reasons? Again, this was best exemplified historically by the UofA Razorbacks ignoring the ASU Indians, now Red Wolves. With the industrial park invigorating the manufacturing contributions to the tax base, the city doesn’t “need” and #JonesboroStrong voted against “wants”, but “spenders gotta spend”.
After the bitter defeat Team Jonesboro suffered in November 2019, the Jonesboro Sun hailed its efforts and the leaders of the lobby went on a “listening tour” to learn what it might do differently in the future. Spoiler alert: What Team Jonesboro is doing is avoiding the constituents, the electorate, the voters.
For Jonesboro Sun subscribers: Team Jonesboro listens, learns from tax defeat | Local News | jonesborosun.com
More “listening” and pre-vote stories:
After Team Jonesboro’s defeat, one statewide newspaper columnist published “Jonesboro’s Dilemma” in March 2020, just as the C19 emergency was ramping up. Recounting the many charms of the city, including a self-funded theater renovation (something that the Waltons gave to Fayetteville), he moaned that Jonesboro couldn’t realize its potential, due to “a virulent Northeast Arkansas strain of Tea Party.” Again, as already established, those who defeated Team Jonesboro did so by living the strengths that Jonesboro Unlimited hails and promotes worldwide.
“Joneboro’s Dilemma” REX NELSON: Jonesboro’s dilemma (arkansasonline.com)
In this excerpt from the article, the “guts” of the lie:
“They must provide the kinds of things graduates of Arkansas State University need in order to stay in Jonesboro following graduation and start businesses. This is no time for complacency. Their main challenge going forward is a virulent northeast Arkansas strain of Tea Party types who oppose any type of public investment.
Most Arkansans, not realizing the strength of the Tea Party crowd, were surprised last September when Jonesboro voters rejected a proposed one-cent sales tax increase. Because of the growth, they had thought of Jonesboro as a progressive place with residents who were willing to invest in the city. That turned out not to be the case.
The tax proposal had been unveiled last May by a group called Team Jonesboro. The tax would have brought in $18 million a year and sunset in 12 years. Quality-of-life projects included bike trails, sidewalks and an aquatic center. There also would have been new fire stations and police substations.
The good news is that members of Team Jonesboro say they’ll still try to find ways to fund needed amenities. In the words of Scott McDaniel: ‘Team Jonesboro is a movement, not a moment.'”
(NOTE: As one example that proves the lie, in August 2020, the president of the ASU System (and other sundry titles), wrote in a @JonesboroSun.com op-ed, “More A-State graduates are choosing to live in Craighead County with a 35% increase in alumni in the past decade.”)
On March 27, 2020, a week after publication of “Jonesboro’s Dilemma”, the F3 tornado barreled out of the southwest, traveling northeast through Jonesboro. Dollars-to-donuts, the then mayor (and county judge) didn’t reject the help of the “Tea Party types” that turned out like all of #JonesboroStrong to address the disaster.
Still today, the current crop of elected- and civic- leaders of Jonesboro always seems to be running a race against its greatest strengths, chasing the “stuff” other regions of the state get handed by seemingly “going along to get”, such as theater renovations, now bike trails, unequal distribution of the funding by state government for programs, to name a few recent examples. There are many more.
In only nine months, it is apparent that this new administration has already “jumped the shark” for credibility on “representing the people, not special interests”, by doing an end-run around the residents and voters to spend, spend, spend, on amenities, not needs. Geezers and young’uns see the tactics being used by Team Jonesboro in elected office. So, guvnor, with the fact of having defeated tax increases so recently, and with a history of past “W”s, aren’t there good reasons for having “a chip on our shoulder”? Governor?
New taxes, mayor? Is the continuing decline of “Franchise Fees” in the “Financial Statements Overview” (August 2021) backed-up by, “While restaurant visits are improving overall, dine-in or on-premise traffic continues to struggle, the report found. Dine-in visits fell 34% in August compared to the same month in 2019.”
Isn’t supporting recovery of the small business sector on-site a prime directive and requisite to best help struggling #JonesboroStrong families regain their footing? Or, has this administration given up, because “drive thru” sales receipts are keeping the tax coffers “runnething over”?
https: //www.facebook.com/groups/1636879773239471/permalink/2959924760934959
With this history, how can the Team Jonesboro lobby and the city it steers get what it really wants, without destroying for the residents those advantages that Jonesboro Unlimited sells so well? The short answer is for the local corporations, perhaps members of the “Existing Industries Association” in the industrial park, local businesses, and both public and private partners that want to “play”, to fund it all – whatever the “heavies” deem as appropriate.
If the country clubs aren’t providing the competitive swimming and the executives deem an aquatics center/sports-complex as an appropriate legacy for their tenure, work with the chamber of commerce, Jonesboro Unlimited, and the city to modify whatever tax breaks it enjoys from the state, county and city, and, please, build it all “bigger” (but not big enough to diminish the resources of CW&L). Call it “stakeholder capitalism”?
Channel those ghosts of Jonesboro Unlimited calling for the Chamber of Commerce, its recruiting arm of Jonesboro Unlimited, and the Team Jonesboro lobby to convince the executives of the multi-nationals, the national companies fleshing out the industrial park, and the local businesses that “jones for” a quality-of-life beyond the limited capacity of #JonesboroStrong” to build “it”, and build it all – build the sports-complex(es), the aquatics centers, any and all of it. As those voices from the past grew the industrial park from little, today’s leaders can grow “leisure for all” out of this “one public swimming pool town.”
Let’s think of it this way:
-On August 18, 2021, the Jonesboro Sun published an article, “Fed’s Powell: There’s no returning to pre-pandemic economy”. In it, Jerome Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank, was quoted as saying that, “…the US economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic….” Powell is no friend of main street. The “Fed” is the source of funding for the many bailouts of Wall Street banks and corporations since 2007. He is also the source for funding the pittances of periodic relief checks, also known as “helicopter money”, dropped into personal bank accounts in 2020-2021. This in itself ought to encourage all levels of government to pause for 3-5 years, in order to assess Powell’s warning. Doing so will certainly not dethrone Jonesboro as the “Gem of the Delta”.
-In contrast, the “heavy-hitter” private sector companies in the industrial park, elsewhere within Craighead County and throughout the region have the internal and collective competitive business intelligence and marketing resources to make “its” own assessments of the economy and, then, to invest in the communities in which they thrive, i.e., stakeholder capitalism. Without taking a poll, it’s a good bet that many of the executives and managers throughout the industrial park already have the wherewithal to participate in and to support travel team sports wherever the competitions occur, so why not here? It’s also a good bet that, collectively, these heavies are amongst those who would prefer to show-off the town in which they live and work as one in which they are proud to live in, especially when headquarters makes its periodic visits to the “frontier”, The Free State of Northeast Arkansas.
-If the city, the chamber of commerce, and Arkansas State University hosted a 1-3 day conference at the “No Boundary Thinking” (NBT) Center on campus, the heavies can make the decisions all happen in short-order, keeping a “bigger, stronger, faster” mantra in mind to accommodate future growth of Jonesboro (the NBT data-crunchers can knock out the analyses on-the-spot). Surely, ASU would “kill” to prove the NBT concept on a real-world long-time local challenge, regardless of whether the project meets all of whatever criteria the theorists have in mind. Isn’t that what “no boundaries thinking” means, chancellor?
State legislators would likely help and this mayor can use his touted business development experience to sell the guvnor of the win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win for the state. As Little Rock has always underfunded the region, always forcing Jonesboro and NEA to get creatively what the other regions get for less – let’s make it all happen , creatively and on Our own. With the backing of the heavies, the state can modify the current tax incentives that industries currently enjoy to accommodate the plans.
One example of a “stakeholder” is the general manager (GM) of the world-class Hilton Corporation’s “Embassy Suites” who initiated discussion of and, then, repeatedly encouraged the 1% increase in the “hotel tax” amongst the proposed tax increases. August was timely for this, just after his company started receiving tax a “rebate” in July? If the hotel is currently 20% of the revenue in the Advertising & Promotions accounts, that’s a great reason to get the focus off it soonest, no? Whereas, Hilton now rightfully receives the rebate it negotiated when analyzing Jonesboro for what’s commonly referred to as the “convention center”, the GM was so optimistic about the increased tax “take” that Hilton can certainly waive whatever rebates it has coming, in exchange for diamond-like sponsorship at the ground-breaking ceremony, perhaps?
Not only the hotel but, perhaps, Houlihan’s can “eat” whatever it gets, if anything, for the same “goodwill”? As both companies are now likely permanent “stakeholders” in Jonesboro, doing so will demonstrate the power of so-called public-private partnerships in ways that benefit #JonesboroStrong best, creating a virtuous circle of goodwill.
(NOTE: The suggestion above came from a 21-year “Hilton Honors” Gold Member, a fan since the year 2000 and, until recently, a fan of the restaurant.)
Again, while just a thought-experiment, imagine the heft of the real heavies, those executives of corporations with street names in the industrial park. With the combined business intelligence, marketing, and other creative resources of the corporate, academic, state and local guvments, all thriving in this resource rich, low tax, low cost economic environment, the capital of the Free-State of Northeast Arkansas could muster “amenities” in ways in which #JonesboroStrong can only dream. And the rest of #Arkansas will awaken to the new #American way in “forever-C19+” America, the “Jonbur way” of gettin’ stuff done in the future, instead of the tired old pre-2021 economy.
Qui bono? Who benefits the most? That’s hard to say:
Is it the heavies who turn Jonesboro into a top-5 most sought after assignment, one for which even incumbents are willing to accept less compensation in order to thrive in “The Gem of the Delta”?
Is it the city owners, #JonesboroStrong, a hardy people who, for whatever reasons, could not keep a YMCA afloat and never built a second swimming pool? For this, it may be a good idea to review Part 2 of this series and to ponder the wealth disparities amongst the owners.
The local “United Way of Northeast Arkansas” is currently fundraising on, “49% of households… struggle to make ends meet at the end of each month. 19% live at or below the federal poverty level. 30%…are working and have a household income level above the federal poverty level but…struggling to have a livable survivable budget.”
Is it the Chamber of Commerce, comprised of the heaviest of the heavies, as well as the mom-and-pop establishments struggling to reestablish viable businesses, still in the midst of the “Powell Pandemic”? How can the corporate and big-box strengths “trickle-down” to sole-proprietorships? Start-ups, @JonesboroUnlimited?
We all know the answer to this question of who will benefit most. It’s the children, always the children, right?
The heavies know what’s coming down the pike in ways the rest of Us can only guess. If the heavy-hitters are willing to pony-up a world-class facility or three because of “knowledge, governed by experience”, then it’s all worth pursuing.
If not, then it’s too risky for #JonesboroStrong. It is the Fed’s Powell, the Trump and OBiden administrations, Asa, this county and this city’s government that made the environment of “forever-C19+” America clear to us. We live in new times, demanding new ways of thinking, beyond the tired, ever-present “untrustworthiness” of this city guvment’s yawning tax and spend policies of the past, today.
For now, the Jonesboro City Council must vote “nay” on any tax increases, period. Tell the mayor “no new taxes for “wants’ when needs exist. Vote to use taxpayer dollars on-hand for the “needed” feasibility study before voting to collect any new taxpayer dollars. In the meantime, let his executive team – the spenders – convince the heavy-hitters that #JonesboroStrong is worth the corporate support, that “Jonesboro is a company town – of, by, and for the People“.
After all is said and done, whose advocates, Team Jonesboro or Citizens Taxed Enough, were truthful in 2019, i.e., fact-based without the hyberbolic cries of “DOOOM” for #JonesboroStrong if taxes were not raised?
It goes beyond the fact that the residents voted against the tax hike; it goes to in whom do the residents entrust their civic future, those who respect #JonesboroStrong or the current Team Jonesboro administration occupying the executive suite and city council in city hall? What’s that sixth bullet on the card? The others?
In closing this series and, again, for those paying attention, the answer to the question in Part 1 is that, after “Team Jonesboro” attempted to “play” #JonesboroStrong in 2019 with a half-cent of the penny sales tax to be dedicated to the “needs” of public-safety, public-safety needs have vanished, disappeared into the naked demands for “wants”. None of the $5M that the mayor has committed the city to for “Happy Trails” and a park in NE Jonesboro, nor the subterfuge of a “downtown tax”, nor the “hamburger tax”, or the penny increase of the “hotel tax” sought from guests in city’s lodging establishments, even mention “public safety”.
So, perhaps, that which benefits more than the children is this city guvment itself, as it can stop screwing #JonesboroStrong for what the fewer “want” and focus on city needs which, supposedly includes two additional fire-stations and who knows what else? Despite repeated calls in the Jonesboro Sun and in the council chambers of city hall to do so, Mayor Copenhaver has yet to share his “Jonesboro Vision 2030” with the owners.
Frankly, it smells of some underlying issue(s) that can only add to the risks his administration are levying on #JonesboroStrong. Maybe the heavies can help suss it out and bring it to the surface, into the light of day?
And, please, end the lie that is “Team Jonesboro” by removing all evidence of its existence from the city government web-site, including this link to the Soviet-era Pravda-like:
#WolvesUp #ARNews #ARLeg #NaturalState #Economy #Freedom #Liberty #JonesboroArkansas #TeaParty #ChamberOfCommerce #Taxes #COLA #CityHall #JonesboroUnited
Postscript: Wtf, Big Arkansas? Regionalization, but no change for the Big 2? NEA can’t get no respect!
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